Hartford Fire Department Task Force Examines Training

HARTFORD — The task force charged with examining operations at the Hartford Fire Department and its handling of the death in October of a firefighter in the line of duty focused its discussion on firefighter training Thursday at city hall.

The group, made up of four retired Hartford fire chiefs and Hartford Police Chief James Rovella, was limited to a cursory review of documentation related to training because it didn't receive the information it requested until just before the meeting.

A city official said the task force would normally receive meeting packets days in advance, but didn't because of Tuesday's snow storm.

Based on that limited review, retired Fire Chief Edward Casares said the group needed more detailed and accurate information from the department regarding in-house training at fire houses and at the training academy.

"Records have not been provided to us beyond a summary of activities," said Casares, who wants to see records that show the start time, length, number of firefighters in attendance and the training activity taking place.

Casares said that it appeared from the documents he was able to examine Thursday that in-house training seemed to be meeting the department's mandated two hours a day, but he could not be sure about activity at the training academy.

"The numbers are all over the place," he said.

Casares also questioned information provided to the panel regarding response times at each fire house, month to month, for the past 18 months.

"Some response times are listed in hours, which is not the norm," he said, adding that some other response times listed at 11, 15, 32 and 36 hours caused him to "question the credibility of the data."

The task force had also requested a list of all disciplinary action taken in the last 18 months.Casares said the department reported 18 instances of disciplinary activity in that period.

"That's one per month for an organization of 350 individuals," he said. "I'm sure there are other organizations that wish they had that record."

The panel plans to ask Fire Chief Carlos Huertas and someone from the department's union to attend the next meeting in two weeks to discuss training.

"Training is the key," said retired Fire Chief Nelson Carter. "You never get enough."

Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra formed the task force in December following a rash of incidents, including the arrest of several firefighters and the death of firefighter Kevin Bell, who was killed in an October house fire on Blue Hills Avenue.